The Last Five Years (film)

The Last Five Years

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Richard LaGravenese
Produced by Richard LaGravenese
Lauren Versel
Kurt Deutsch
Janet Brenner
Screenplay by Richard LaGravenese
Based on The Last Five Years 
by Jason Robert Brown
Starring Anna Kendrick
Jeremy Jordan
Music by Jason Robert Brown[1]
Cinematography Steven Meizler[1]
Edited by Sabine Hoffman[1]
Production
company
Grand Peaks Entertainment
Lucky Monkey Pictures
Distributed by Radius-TWC[2]
Release dates
  • September 7, 2014 (TIFF)
  • February 13, 2015 (United States)
Running time
 94 minutes[1][3]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $2 million[4]

The Last Five Years is a 2014 American musical comedy-drama film starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. Based on Jason Robert Brown's musical of same name, the film is written and directed by Richard LaGravenese[5] It premiered on September 7, 2014 in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[6][7] The film was released in select theaters and on video on demand on February 13, 2015.

Plot

Cathy is sitting alone lamenting the end of her marriage ("Still Hurting").

We shift to meet Jamie. It is five years earlier and he has just met Cathy. Jamie is overjoyed to be dating outside his Jewish heritage ("Shiksa Goddess").

Cathy and Jamie are in Ohio. It is her birthday and he has come to visit her as she works in a show there ("See I'm Smiling"). She is anxious to fix any problems in their marriage but she becomes angry when Jamie tells her he has to go back early to New York.

Jamie is moving in with Cathy. He comments on how lucky he is that everything is going right for him; his book is being published and his life with Cathy seems too good to be true ("Moving Too Fast"). Elsewhere, an older Cathy is making a call to her agent: it seems her career isn't going the way she planned it.

Cathy is attending multiple social functions for Jamie's success. She sings about how he ignores her for his writing but she will always be in love with him ("A Part of That").

Jamie and Cathy celebrate their first Christmas. He tells her a new story he has written about an old tailor named Schmuel and he gives her a Christmas present: a watch, promising to support her as she follows her dreams of acting. ("The Schmuel Song").

Cathy is in Ohio and skyping to Jamie. She describes to Jamie her disappointing life in Ohio among her eccentric colleagues ("A Summer in Ohio").

Jamie is sitting with Cathy in Central Park underneath a gazebo. Jamie proposes to her and, for the first time in the musical, they sing together ("The Next Ten Minutes"). They get married, exchanging vows to stay together forever.

Jamie is facing temptation from other women, especially now his career as a writer has escalated ("A Miracle Would Happen"). Cathy, meanwhile, is auditioning for the job in New York ("When You Come Home to Me"). She is getting down about the rejection she faces as an actress and complains to Jamie. She realizes she doesn't want to be the girl left behind ("Climbing Uphill").

Jamie is fighting with Cathy, trying to get her to listen to him. He wants to celebrate a book review but Cathy refuses to go out. He accuses her of being unsupportive of his career just because hers is failing. Though his words are harsh, he promises her that he believes in her ("If I Didn't Believe in You").

A younger Cathy is in the car with Jamie, who is going to meet her parents. She tells him about her past relationships and hopes not to end up in a small town life like her friend from high school ("I Can Do Better Than That"). She asks Jamie to move in with her.

Near the end of the relationship, Jamie wakes up beside multiple women, including the book editor, Alise ("Nobody Needs to Know"). He tries to defend his actions and blames Cathy for destroying his privacy and their relationship. Jamie promises not to lie to this woman and tells her, that "I could be in love with someone like you," just as he does to Cathy in "Shiksa Goddess."

Cathy is ecstatic after her first date with Jamie. She sings goodbye ("Goodbye Until Tomorrow"). She proclaims that she has been waiting for Jamie her whole life. Simultaneously but five years forward, Jamie sits in their shared apartment writing laments over the relationship ("I Could Never Rescue You").

As Cathy waves Jamie "goodbye until tomorrow", Jamie wishes Cathy simply "goodbye".

He leaves the apartment, and later that evening, Cathy returns to the apartment, leading to the beginning of the film.

Cast

Production

Shooting began on June 17, 2013 in New York City.[9] Unlike the show, in which the solos are sung in isolation and the viewer must imagine the presence of any other characters in the scene, the scenes in the film directly depict interaction between the two leads and occasionally other people (though still only one character sings in most scenes, as in the play). Betsy Wolfe, who played Cathy in the 2013 Off-Broadway revival, will play the former stripper that Cathy rooms with in Ohio. Brown himself will play one of the accompanists during Cathy's auditions in "Climbing Uphill". Sherie Rene Scott, who originated the role of Cathy in the Off-Broadway production, will also appear in one of the audition scenes with her husband Kurt Deutsch. The film wrapped on July 16, 2013 in Harlem.[10] It inked foreign distribution deals with countries in Eastern Europe and Asia in August 2014.[11]

Release

Radius-TWC announced a February 13, 2015 release date in the US, simultaneously releasing it in select theatres and on VOD.[2] It was previously set for release in the UK on December 12, 2014, but was later pushed back to February 6, in line with its US release.[12] Icon Film Distribution then pushed the release date back indefinitely, and they have not yet announced a new date.[13]

Reception

Box Office

In its opening weekend in North America, the film grossed $42,000, opening in limited release in three theaters.[14]

Critical response

The Last Five Years received generally positive reviews. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 60% approval rating with an average rating of 6.2/10 based on 62 reviews. The site's consensus states: "The Last Five Years hits a few awkward notes in its transition from stage to screen, but its freshness and sincere charm -- and well-matched stars -- offer their own rewards."[15] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 61/100 based on 26 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[16]

In The Observer, Jonathan Romney found the film to be "an enjoyable anomaly. The Last Five Years is not just a romcom for people who hate romcoms, it’s also a musical – although people who devoutly hate those may not click with its literate wit and knowing, more-bitter-than-sweet poignancy". Less positively, he wrote: "It’s not as cinematically confident as it might be: director Richard LaGravenese isn’t always the most imaginative at providing visual settings", before adding, "this does feel like an organic film rather than a show forced into movie glad rags". Romney found the songs to be "unfailingly sharp, though one or two take on clunky rock colourings; even then, they’re only as bad as, say, Billy Joel on one of his better days". He concluded, "It’s a film to bring tears to the eyes of a cynic – in fact, a cynic might relish it more than anyone, since it’s the counterpointing of exuberance with unashamed bleakness that makes The Last Five Years so rich. You may even, just possibly, come out humming the tunes."[17]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 TIFF.net | The Last Five Years
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sneider, Jeff (September 5, 2014). "Radius Kicks Off Toronto Sales With Anna Kendrick, Jeremy Jordan Musical ‘The Last 5 Years’". TheWrap.com. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  3. ↑ "THE LAST 5 YEARS (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. November 3, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  4. ↑ Director Richard LaGravenese on His Upcoming Last Five Years Movie: 'It's a Great Little Piece'
  5. ↑ "Kendrick Shooting LAST FIVE YEARS Film In NYC". broadwayworld.com. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "Toronto Film Festival Lineup". Variety. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  7. ↑ THE LAST FIVE YEARS Movie Set To Premiere 9/7 At TIFF
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Hetrick, Adam (June 26, 2013). "Sherie Rene Scott, Jason Robert Brown, Betsy Wolfe and More Make Cameos in "Last Five Years" Film". Playbill. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  9. ↑ "‘The Last Five Years’ begins filming in NYC". onlocationvacations.com. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  10. ↑ It's a Wrap! On Set with Jeremy Jordan & Anna Kendrick on the Final Day of Filming The Last Five Years
  11. ↑ Toronto: Anna Kendrick's 'The Last 5 Years' Inks Foreign Distribution Deals
  12. ↑ "The Last 5 Years UK Release Date Pushed to February 2015". FinalReel.co.uk. November 26, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  13. ↑ "The Last 5 Years UK Release Date Pushed Back Indefinitely". FinalReel.co.uk. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  14. ↑ "The Last Five Years". BoxOfficeMojo. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  15. ↑ "The Last Five Years". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  16. ↑ "The Last Five Years". Metacritic. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  17. ↑ Romney, Jonathan (19 April 2015). "And the rest…: The Last Five Years". The Observer (The New Review section) (London). p. 29. Retrieved 24 April 2015.

External links